History: Hardtack is best known in the United States as a staple ration carried by soldiers during the American Civil War. Hardtack has been used for thousands of years, serving as a durable food source for ancient Egyptian sailors, Roman soldiers, and naval crews around the world. Hardtack was often described as tasting like cardboard… click to get the Hardtack Recipe
Chloe Tuttle
Picking peanuts always takes me back to my childhood in eastern North Carolina. My nephew Barney and I spent countless afternoons playing hide-and-seek among the peanut fields. Back then, farmers dug the peanuts and stacked them on poles to dry before harvesting. The fields carried a rich, earthy scent that seemed to linger everywhere, a… Click to see video of Peanuts being Picked
All Good Southern Cooks Have a Sweet Pickle Relish Recipe We don’t buy the relish, we make it ourselves from old family recipes. Each family has its own recipe; some add peppers and onions. I like the simple one. Often we just chop up last year’s sweet cucumber pickles. Sweet Pickle Relish is a main… You just can’t make southern chicken salad without Sweet Pickle Relish. This recipe is the best!
As that famous Georgia bumper sticker says, “It is time to Brake for Boiled Peanuts.” Just-dug peanuts – green peanuts – are one of the first signs that summer is quietly giving way to fall on the farm. And every year in early fall, we boil these green peanuts in the shell with lots of… Click to learn more about Boiled Peanuts
Sunnyside Oyster Bar is an eastern North Carolina tradition and folks from all over the country come to taste these special, just-shucked oysters. OPEN NOW September, 2026, at 5:30 every night. They shuck and steam the same way they did in 1935, when Charles Roberson, Sr. first opened his restaurant and called it Sunnyside. As… Click to read more about Sunnyside Oyster Bar
A few years back, my friend Marion and I hiked up Jockey’s Ridge – the tallest living sand dune on the Atlantic coast. Back then, I made it to the top without much fuss. These days? I’d probably need a week and a good pep talk … but I’d still give it a go. Jockey’s… To See How you can learn Hang Gliding click here
There is a very small window of time when Sweet Corn, Okra, and Tomatoes are in season at the same time – Probably just a few weeks in late summer. It always reminds me of late summer on the farm when we were harvesting or “putting in” tobacco. Those were long nights when my dad… Click to read more about Corn, Okra and Tomatoes
Summer in coastal North Carolina means great watermelons. If you want a unique watermelon recipe, here it is – Watermelon Punch When I was growing up on the farm, my father planted three long rows of watermelons – each one stretching at least a city block. It was a sight, and it meant we had… Click here to get the Watermelon Punch Recipe
I first tasted Gazpacho in the sixties when I was a young student living in Spain. It happened in a little café in Toledo, Spain, and I can still picture it – the café itself, the handsome young man, and the Gazpacho that made such an impression on me. My own gazpacho recipe grew from… Click here to learn more about Chloe’s adventures in Spain and Cooking which includes this gorgeous gazpacho
Sweet cucumber pickles are as southern as iced tea. Not just any pickles either – they must be homemade and preferably homegrown. It is alright if someone gives you the cucumbers, or you pick them up fresh from your local Farmers Market. We all have a sweet pickle family recipe that has been passed down… Click here to get Chloe’s Sweet Cucumber Pickle Recipe
